Semiconductor latches and SRAM devices

ABSTRACT

A new Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cell using Thin Film Transistors (TFT) is disclosed. In a first embodiment, an SRAM cell comprises a strong inverter and a strong access device constructed on a semiconductor substrate layer, and a weak inverter and a weak access device constructed in a semiconductor thin film layer located vertically above the strong devices. The strong devices are used in the data read and write paths, and the weak devices are used for latch feed-back and sector data erase. This first embodiment is used for high density and high speed memory applications. In a second embodiment, an SRAM cell comprises thin film inverters and thin film access devices constructed in a semiconductor thin film layer located substantially above logic transistors. The TFT SRAM cell is buried above the logic gates of an Integrated Circuit to consume no extra Silicon real estate. This second embodiment is used for slow access and Look-Up-Tables type memory applications.

[0001] This application is a division of application Ser. No. 10/413,810entitled Semiconductor Latches and SRAM Devices, filed on Apr. 14, 2003,which claims priority from Provisional Application Serial No. 60/393,763entitled “Wire Replaceable TFT SRAM Cell and Cell Array Technology”,filed on Jul. 8, 2002, Provisional Application Serial No. 60/397,070entitled “Wire Replaceable Thin Film Fuse and Anti-fuse Technology”,filed on Jul. 22, 2002, Provisional Application Serial No. 60/400,007entitled “Re-programmable ASIC”, filed on Aug. 1, 2002 and ProvisionalApplication Serial No. 60/449,011 entitled “SRAM cell and cell arrays”,filed on Feb. 24, 2003, all of which list as inventor Mr. R. U. Maduraweand the contents of which are incorporated-by-reference.

BACKGROUND

[0002] The present invention relates to semiconductor latches and StaticRandom Access Memory (SRAM) devices.

[0003] A latch is a data storage unit in a semiconductor devicecomprising of two inverters. An inverter has an input and an outputhaving a voltage of opposite polarity to said input. The inverter isconnected between a system power voltage level and system ground voltagelevel. Two such inverters connected back-to-back have self sustainingvoltages at their inputs and outputs. A static random access memory(SRAM) device is a type of semiconductor memory device that has lowpower consumption and fast access time relative to a dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) device. An SRAM cell comprises a latch and one ormore access devices. The latch stores binary data, and the access deviceprovides the capability to read and write data into the latch. Multipleaccess devices provide multiple access paths to read and write thesingle latch data. An SRAM memory device is essentially an array of SRAMcells. They are classified by the type of inverter in the latch, by thetotal transistor count in the SRAM cell and by the number of accessdevices to configure the latch. Typical latches do not have mixedinverters as the latch transistors depend on the fabrication processtechnology. There are two common types of inverters used for SRAMlatches: a high load resistor cell employing a high resistor or adepletion load resistor as a pull-up device of the inverter, and a CMOStype cell employing a PMOS transistor as a pull-up device of theinverter. The CMOS type cell can be further sub-divided into a thin-filmtransistor (TFT) cell employing a thin-film PMOS transistor (TFPT) asthe pull-up device, and a full CMOS cell employing a bulk PMOStransistor as the pull-up device. In all cases the pull-down device ofthe inverter is a bulk NMOS transistor in SRAM construction.

[0004] SRAM classified by the total transistor count include 5T (fivetransistor) SRAM cells, 6T (six transistors) SRAM cells, 2T/2R (twotransistor, two resistor) SRAM cells, among many others. Some labels aremisnomers as the full transistor count excludes capacitors and resistorsneeded to make the SRAM cell function correctly. In all cases, each cellincludes a bi-stable latch, with two self consisting stable outputvalues: logic 0 (voltage V_(S)) and logic 1 (voltage V_(D)). The outputof the SRAM latch can be set to zero or one through the accesstransistors. The number of access transistors connected to an SRAM latchdefines single port, dual port and multi port memory functionality.Multi-port feature is useful to read and write data in latches atdifferent locations simultaneously.

[0005] An SRAM cell in single crystal Silicon (Si) has three differentmethods of fabrication. The most popular 6T SRAM cell, FIG. 1, has sixMOSFET transistors. Fabrication is kept simple with no specialprocessing needed by using standard CMOS transistors for the SRAM cell.All six transistors are located in substrate Silicon, and all have highmobility for electron and hole conduction. They are strong devices. Thecell area is large, standby current is negligible and the access time isvery fast. This configuration is used for high cost, least power,fastest access SRAM memory. In 5T SRAM memory, transistor 111 is notused.

[0006] In FIG. 1A, the SRAM cell contains a latch comprised of twoswitching devices (inverters) 104 and 107 back to back and two accesstransistors 110 and 111 that allow the data terminal 101 and /data (notdata) terminal 102 to write and store 0 or 1 in the latch. The twostable operating points of the latch are alterable through the twoaccess transistors 110, 111 via a common gate terminal 103. A singleinverter 104 cannot hold data indefinitely as an isolated gate nodewould lose charge from junction leakages. A feedback inverter provides acurrent drive to the first inverter gate node to replenish lost charge.Each inverter charges the other. The use of CMOS inverters allow bothlogic “0” state and logic “1” state at the input of the inverter 104 andits opposite state at the input of the inverter 107 indefinitely whilepower is on. Internally, the inverters 104, 107 use NMOS transistors106, 109 and PMOS transistors 105, 108 as shown in the latch in FIG. 1B.Latch transistor dimensions are scaled to ensure proper writing of thesetwo states into the latch, cell stability against alpha particles andnoise.

[0007] For a number of reasons, among them controllability andconsistent current drive being the foremost, the high speed, low powerSRAM memory latch is conventionally fabricated on single crystal Siliconusing standard CMOS transistors for the SRAM cell. The resultingtransistor consumes a relatively large amount of Silicon area. FIGS. 2Aand 2B show top view and cross sectional view of a conventional CMOSinverter fabricated using a logic twin well process. An NMOS transistor205 is inside a P-well 208, while a PMOS transistor 206 is inside anN-well 207 shown in dotted line. PMOS source 211 and drain 212diffusions are P+ diffusion regions, while NMOS source 214 and drain 213diffusions are N+ diffusion regions. Due to potential latch-upconditions, a separation distance Y in FIG. 2 is maintained between thetwo transistors 205 and 206. Both Nwell 207 and Pwell 208 areconstructed on a substrate 200 of the device, which could be P-type orN-type. Latch-up arises from the P+/N-well/P-Well regions 212/207/208and N+/P-Well/N-well regions 213/208/207 bipolar parasitic transistorsnear the well boundary as shown in FIG. 2B. Due to this separation, theSilicon conducting path for current flow can not be constructed in asingle active semiconductor geometry. In FIG. 2B, PMOS source 211 andbody 207 are tied to V_(D) 203, and NMOS source 214 and body 208 aretied to V_(S) 204. In other applications, the body may be separatelybiased. The Pwell 208 has to be biased to the lowest potential, whilethe Nwell 207 has to be biased to the highest potential.

[0008] In addition to the single crystal Silicon approach, an SRAM latchcan be fabricated as a Resistor-load latch and a TFT PMOS-load latch,both of which have the pull-up device vertically integrated, requiringspecial poly-crystalline (poly) Silicon for the load device. Theresistor-load latch, FIG. 3A, has poly Silicon resistors 305 & 308 aspull up devices, instead of PMOS devices. The vertically integratedsingle poly Silicon film allows elimination of N-wells in the substrate,and a smaller cell area construction. Only four NMOS transistors 10, 111in FIG. 1 and 306, 309 in FIG. 3A are built on substrate Silicon, areduction from six in fill CMOS. These cells consume standby power asone inverter is always conducting, and the power consumption isdetermined by the resistor value. For 1 Meg density of latches and 1 mAstandby current, a resistor value of 1 GOhms is needed. High valueintrinsic poly-Silicon resistors are hard to build, and TFT PMOS devicesoffer better manufacturability. As shown in FIG. 3B, TFT PMOS can bealso used as active weak PMOS pull-up devices similar to regular PMOS inFIG. 1 to eliminate stand-by current. As the pull-up device 305 or 315current drive is very weak, these inverters cannot drive a strong logicone. These configurations of inverters are only used to build latches toconstruct low cost, high density, higher power, and slower access timeSRAM memory. Such memories need complex dual ended sense amplifiers toread the latch data, and are sensitive to noise. As a result, embeddedmemory and multi-port memory is mostly constructed with CMOS latches.

[0009] In all cases the four NMOS transistors 110, 111 and the two morein inverters 104 and 107 in FIG. 1A (106, 109 in FIG. 1B or 306, 309 inFIG. 3A or 316, 319 in FIG. 3B) are strong Metal Oxide SemiconductorField Effect Transistors (MOSFET) fabricated on single crystal Silicon.This is due to the popularity of MOSFET devices over JFET, and theability to form complementary MOSFET (known as CMOS) gates. MOSFET andJFET transistors are discussed next.

[0010] The MOSFET operates by conducting current between its drain andsource through a conducting surface channel created by the presence of agate voltage. FIG. 4 shows a cross section of an N-MOSFET (NMOS)conducting channel 410 with a depletion region shown shaded. In FIG. 4,an NMOS transistor body 400 is P− doped, isolating an N+ doped sourceregion 414 and an N+ doped drain region 413. Source and drain diffusionsare connected to terminals 404 and 403 respectively. The result is theformation of two N+/P− back-to-back reverse-biased diodes. For thisdiscussion, the source 404 is assumed at zero (V_(S)). When the voltage402 at gate 412 is zero, the N+/P− back-to-back reverse-biased diodes donot conduct and the transistor is off. There is no surface channel 410,and the body surface under insulator 405 next to gate 412 is inaccumulation of majority hole carriers. The conduction path betweensource and drain is now substantially non-conductive. In the embodimentof FIG. 4, the gate 412 includes a salicided region 422. A spacer 420 isformed adjacent to gate 412. Source and drain salicidation is not shownin FIG. 4. When the gate voltage 402 is greater than a threshold voltage(V_(T)) of the transistor, an inversion occurs near the surface, shownby channel 410, completing an electron career path between the source414 and drain 413 regions causing current flow. The conducting path nowinclude source 414, channel 410 and drain 413 and is substantiallyconductive. In addition to the inversion layer, charge depletion occursadjacent to the body region 400 due to the gate, source and drainvoltages. The component of this depleted charge from the gate voltagedetermines the magnitude of the V_(T). Trapped oxide charge and Silicondefects affect the V_(T) transistor parameter. The more positive thevoltage is at the gate, the stronger is the conduction. At all levels,the substrate 400 potential is kept at the lowest voltage level. In mostapplications, the substrate and source are held at V_(S). Substrate canbe pumped to negative voltages for special applications.

[0011] A PMOS device is analogous to an NMOS device, with the deviceoperational polarity and doping types reversed. PMOS source is typicallytied to V_(D). A PMOS is on when the gate is at V_(S), and off when thegate is at V_(D). Conducting path includes a P+ doped source and drain,and a surface inversion layer in the Nwell body region. The Nwell isbiased to the highest potential, and in most applications the source andNwell are held at V_(D). The PMOS and NMOS in a CMOS inverter share acommon gate with identical voltage range. When the CMOS inverter input(or gate) is at V_(D), the inverter output is at V_(S), and visa-versa.

[0012] As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,537,078, conventional JFETtransistors are of two main types: P-channel (PJFET) and N-channel(NJFET). The NJFET in FIG. 5 has a semiconductor channel 506 doped N−and positioned between two N+ diffusions 513 and 514. Conducting pathincludes diffusion 513, resistive channel 506 and diffusion 514.Terminals 503 and 504 are coupled to diffusions 513 and 514. Theterminal supplying the majority carrier to the channel (which is thelowest potential) is designated the source (S) while the other terminalis designated the drain (D). Across the N− channel 506 there are twodiffused gates which are referred to as the top gate 512 and the bottomgate 522. Those are connected to terminals 502 and 532 respectively.Each gate is doped with P+ type dopant to create two back to back P+/N−diodes. When drain and source voltages are different, the drain tosource current passes entirely through the conducting N− channel 506.This current increases with higher voltage drop between the terminals,reaching a saturation value at high biases. The gates are biased to keepthe gate to channel P+/N− junctions reversed biased. The reversed biasedvoltage creates depletion regions 510 and 520 that penetrate into thechannel reducing the channel height available for current flow. Thedepletion regions merge at drain end 530 to cause current saturation athigh drain bias. The gate voltages also control the flow of currentbetween the source and drain by modulating the channel height. When thegate reverse bias is sufficiently large, the entire channel ispinched-off causing no current flow between drain and source. Conductingpath is then substantially non-conductive. In both on and off states ofa JFET, there is no current flow through the gate terminal due toreverse bias junction voltages, except for junction leakage current. Forthe device in FIG. 5 a negative gate voltage (lower than V_(S)) createsthe channel off condition. Such a negative gate voltage increases theoperating voltage of this process, a draw back for JFET scheme.

[0013] A PJFET device is analogous to an NJFET device, with the deviceoperational polarity and doping types reversed. PJFET source is held atV_(D). A PJFET is on when the gate is at V_(D), and off when the gate ismore positive than V_(D) increasing the voltage level of the process.Conducting path includes P+ doped source and drain regions, and a P−doped channel sandwiched between two N+ doped gate regions. Forterminals at voltages V_(S) and V_(D), operating range of NJFET gate isless than V_(S) to V_(S), while the operating range for PJFET gate isV_(D) to more than V_(D). Non-overlapping gate voltages prevent having acommon gate input.

[0014] Compared to the non-conducting body 400 of MOSFET on FIG. 4, theJFET has a conducting channel 406 between source and drain. Due tonon-overlapping gate voltages and the high voltage range thus needed, acomplementary JFET process is impractical to realize. Hence there is nolow cost process that provides CJFET devices analogous to CMOS devices.Compared to the MOSFET in FIG. 4, a JFET conducting channel is formedinside the body of the switching device. This channel current is notaffected by trapped oxide charges near the gate, a draw back withMOSFETs. Compared to MOSFETs, JFETs also have poorer switchingcharacteristics due to higher depleted charge stored in the channel andthe transient times required to accumulate and disperse this depletioncharge. Reverse biased junctions hurt JFET device ease of use andpopularity in modem day ICs.

[0015]FIG. 6A illustrates the conventional CMOS inverter shown in FIG.2A constructed with MOSFET transistors. There is no equivalent JFETconstruction due to gate voltage limitations. In the conventional CMOSinverter shown in FIG. 6A, the conducting path 610 allows current flowbetween terminal 603 and output 602, while conducting path 620 allowscurrent flow between terminal 604 and output 602. The conducting paths610 and 620 are constructed in single crystal semiconductor activegeometries and have strong current drive. These active geometries arephysically separated to allow for the latch up related well rulesdiscussed earlier. First device comprises gate 612 and conducting path610. Second device comprises common gate 612 and conducting path 620.Conducting path 610 couples output 602 to first voltage source 603.Conducting path 620 couples output 602 to second voltage source 604.Voltage level at common gated input 601 selects which of the two voltagesources 603 or 604 is coupled to output 602. While construction in FIG.6A allows for high speed memory applications, the Silicon foot-print islarge and expensive.

[0016]FIG. 6B illustrates the conventional R-load inverter shown in FIG.3A constructed with a NMOS transistor. In this conventional resistorload inverter the conducting path for current flow is via the resistorand the single crystal active region. The conducting path 630 is theresistor or the TFT resistor itself. This resistance is very high andthe drive current is very weak. Second device comprises gate 632 andconducting path 640. Conducting paths 630 and 640 are physicallyseparated to facilitate the vertical integration. Conducting path 630permanently couples a first voltage source 623 to output 622 veryweakly. Strong conducting path 630 is able to couple output 622 tosecond voltage source 624 when activated. Voltage level at input 621couples the output 622 to one of two voltage sources 623 or 624. Whileconstruction in FIG. 6B allows a smaller Silicon foot-print, the weakpull-up resistor makes this memory cell not suitable for high speedapplications. In both cases the two conducting paths are constructed intwo separate semiconductor geometries and connected together at thecommon node by either metal contacts, or buried contacts.

[0017]FIG. 7 illustrates a conventional 6T-SRAM cell shown in FIG. 1ATwo inverters 750 and 760 in the conventional embodiment as shown inFIG. 6A share common power supplies 708 and 707. These may be power andground voltages respectively. Very often the power supplies are sharedat a common node by two adjacent PMOS or NMOS transistors, as shown bynode 708 in FIG. 7. First inverter 750 has a common gate 712 and twoconducting paths 710 and 720 connected to power supplies 707 and 708.The common output is 715. Similarly a second inverter 760 has a commongate 732 and two conducting paths 730 and 740 connected to powersupplies 707 and 708. The common output is 716. Conducting paths arephysically separated due to latch up considerations as discussedearlier. Both inverters 750 and 760 have conducting paths in a singlecrystal high mobility semiconductor layer. In standard CMOS, these areSilicon active geometries for PMOS and NMOS. These active geometrieshave multiple doped regions in the conducting path and have isolationoxide separating the geometries. For PMOS the Silicon conducting pathincludes P+ source, P surface inversion layer in Nwell and P+ drain. ForNMOS the Silicon conducting path includes N+ source, N surface inversionlayer in Pwell and N+ drain. Access device 770 couple data path 701 toinverter 750 output, while access device 780 couple data path 704 toinverter 760 output. These data paths have a plurality of access devicesconnections in a memory array. Gate 706 activates device 780, while gate703 activates device 770 by turning those devices on or off. Typicallythese devices 770 and 780 are strong NMOS transistors. Gates 706 and 703are coupled to row lines 705 and 702 respectively that may have aplurality of access device connections. Data paths 701 and 704 and rowlines 705 and 702 are arranged in orthogonal column and row orientationto allow unique access to each cell in a cell array. Conducting paths755 and 765 of the access devices are also constructed in the samesemiconductor layer as in inverters 750 and 760. In CMOS, conductingpaths 710, 730, 755, 765 are NMOS active areas and share a commongeometry. Conducting paths 720 and 740 are PMOS active areas sharinganother common geometry separated from NMOS by an isolation oxideregion. In this configuration the two inverters are constructed as twogeometries in a single layer.

SUMMARY

[0018] In one aspect, a latch comprises two back to back invertersformed on two separate semiconductor layers. A high performance inverteris constructed on a high mobility semiconductor layer. A lowerperformance inverter is constructed in a lower mobility semiconductorlayer. The two inverters are stacked one above the other to reduce thelatch area, and connected back-to-back to provide the necessaryfeed-back This arrangement allows fast access times at a reducedfoot-print for high density memory. A semiconductor latch for integratedcircuits is adapted to have a first supply voltage and a second supplyvoltage substantially at a lower voltage level than said first supplyvoltage. The latch comprises a first and a second semiconductor layer,substantially different from each other; a first inverter having a firstconducting path coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, anda second conducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and saidoutput, and said first and second conducting paths constructed in saidfirst semiconductor layer; and a second inverter having a firstconducting path coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, anda second conducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and saidoutput, and said first and second conducting paths constructed in saidsecond semiconductor layer.

[0019] In a second aspect, a latch comprises two lower performance backto back inverters formed on a second semiconductor thin film layer,substantially different from a first semiconductor substrate layer usedfor logic transistor construction. This latch is stacked above the logiccircuitry for slow memory applications with no penalty on Silicon areaand cost. A semiconductor latch for integrated circuits is adapted tohave a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage substantially ata lower voltage level than said first supply voltage. The latchcomprises a semiconductor thin film layer, substantially different froma semiconductor substrate layer; a first inverter having a firstconducting path coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, anda second conducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and saidoutput, and said first and second conducting paths constructed in saidsemiconductor thin film layer; and a second inverter having a firstconducting path coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, anda second conducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and saidoutput, and said first and second conducting paths constructed in saidsemiconductor thin film layer.

[0020] Advantages of the invention may include one or more of thefollowing. A smaller area latch is constructed in one semiconductorgeometry by eliminating the latch-up spacing requirement. The latch isconstructed in a second semiconductor plane, different from a firstplane used for logic transistor construction. The latch is embeddedabove logic transistors taking no effective Silicon area. The latchcontains all MOSFET transistors. The latch contains all Gated-FETtransistors as discussed in “Insulated-Gate Field-Effect Thin FilmTransistors”. The latch contains mixed MOSFET and Gated-FET transistors.The transistors are fully depleted thin film devices. The transistorshave fully salicided source and drain regions adjacent to lightly dopedtip regions to reduce source and drain resistance. A smaller area SRAMcell is constructed with a latch having a smaller area. A split levelSRAM cell is constructed with a split level latch: one inverter in afirst plane, and a second inverter in a second plane. An SRAM cell has afirst inverter in the substrate layer, and a second inverter in a thinfilm layer substantially above said first inverter. The firstsemiconductor layer is single crystal Silicon. The substrate layer hashigh performance strong transistors. The SRAM cell has one or moreaccess transistors to access memory data. Access device for highperformance inverter is also high performance. The high performanceinverter is fabricated as SOI inverter, or thinned down SOI inverter.The second thin film layer is polycrystalline Silicon. The poly-Siliconinverter is low performance, and only acts to hold the data state in thehigh performance inverter. The access device for low performanceinverter is also low performance. A latch is constructed with all thinfilm semiconductor transistors. The thin film is poly-crystallineSilicon containing weak thin film transistors (TFT). TFT layer isstacked above a logic layer and takes no extra Silicon real estate. TFTmemory blocks are vertically integrated to a logic process for FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) or Field Programmable Video Graphics(FPVG) applications. The split SRAM memory cells are used for highdensity stand alone and embedded memory applications. The split SRAMmemory cells are used for high memory content Look-Up-Tableapplications.

[0021] Advantages of the invention may further include one or more ofthe following. The latch and SRAM memory cells consume less Silicon.Large memory blocks have a lower cost in spite of the added wafer costfor process complexity. The split level memory cells have very highperformance similar to full CMOS SRAM memory. The split level memorycells have very low power consumption similar to full CMOS SRAM memory.High performance new SRAM cells have lower complexity single endedsensing circuitry. New cells are more stable and have better noiseimmunity. New SRAM cells can be used for very fast access embeddedmemory applications. Thinned down SOI memory has very high performance.Thin down split SRAM SOI memory allows very high memory densities.Memory cells contain complementary transistors with no stand-by powerconsumption. The complete memory cell in TFT layers can be stacked abovelogic transistors. This leads to buried memory configuration. Buriedmemory has reduced Silicon area and lower cost. Full TFT SRAM memorycells have slower access times, and useful for slow configuration memoryapplications. Both programmable products can be subsequently mapped toASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuit). The SRAM memory is usedfor prototyping and low volume production, while hard wired ASICs areused for high volume production. The invention thus provides anattractive solution for two separate industries: (i) very high densitystand alone or embedded memory for low power, fast access applicationsand (ii) high-density, buried memory for low cost, slow accessprogrammable applications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022]FIGS. 1A & 1B shows a conventional CMOS 6T SRAM cell and a CMOSlatch.

[0023]FIGS. 2A & 2B shows top and cross sectional views of aconventional CMOS inverter on a twin well logic process.

[0024]FIGS. 3A & 3B shows a conventional resistor load and a TFT PMOSload latch.

[0025]FIG. 4 shows a conventional NMOS transistor conduction channel.

[0026]FIG. 5 shows a conventional NJFET transistor conduction channel.

[0027]FIGS. 6A, 6B & 6C show three embodiments of switching devices.

[0028]FIG. 7 shows a conventional six transistor CMOS memory cell.

[0029]FIG. 8 shows a first embodiment of a new memory cell.

[0030]FIG. 9 shows a second embodiment of a new memory cell.

[0031]FIG. 10 shows a third embodiment of a new memory cell.

[0032]FIG. 11 shows a fourth embodiment of a new memory cell.

[0033]FIGS. 12A & 12B shows top and cross-sectional views of a thin filmMOSFET inverter.

[0034]FIGS. 13A & 13B shows top and cross-sectional views of a thin filmGated-FET inverter.

[0035]FIGS. 14.1-14.7 shows layer by layer construction of an exemplaryprocess.

[0036]FIG. 15 shows a schematic and an exemplary compact 6T SRAM celllayout.

[0037]FIGS. 16.1-16.7 shows a layer by layer construction of 6T-SRAMcell shown in FIG. 15.

[0038]FIGS. 17A & 17B shows an exemplary schematic and layout of 3×3memory cell array for 6T-SRAM cell in FIG. 15.

[0039]FIGS. 18A, 18B & 18C shows a compact schematic of an individualcell, schematic of a 3×3 array and a single cell layout for an exemplary5T SRAM cell.

[0040]FIGS. 19A & 19B shows a schematic and cell layout of an exemplaryTFT 6T SRAM cell.

[0041]FIGS. 20A & 20B shows a schematic and cell layout of anotherexemplary TFT 6T SRAM cell.

DESCRIPTION

[0042] The terms wafer and substrate used in the following descriptioninclude any structure having an exposed surface with which to form thelatch structure of the invention. The term substrate is understood toinclude semiconductor wafers. The term substrate is also used to referto semiconductor structures during processing, and may include otherlayers that have been fabricated thereupon. The term layer is used forprocessing steps used in the manufacturing process. The term layer alsoincludes each of the masking layers of the process. Both wafer andsubstrate include doped and undoped semiconductors, epitaxialsemiconductor layers supported by a base semiconductor or insulator, SOImaterial as well as other semiconductor structures well known to oneskilled in the art. The term conductor is understood to includesemiconductors, and the term insulator is defined to include anymaterial that is less electrically conductive than the materialsreferred to as conductors. The term conducting path defines conductorsand semiconductors connected in series. A conducting path includesmultiple semiconductor regions having different dopant levels. Aconducting path may be conductive or non-conductive based on thesemiconductor properties in the conducting path. The conductivity of asemiconductor is dependant on the mobility of electrons and holes insaid conducting path. The term strong device is used to identify adevice with electron and hole mobility similar to single crystal levelof semiconductor quality. A weak device include a device having electronand hole mobility below that achieved in single crystal qualitysemiconductor with equivalent doping. The term geometry is used todefine an isolated pattern of a masking layer. Thus one mask layer is acollection of geometries in that mask pattern. The term module includesa structure that is fabricated using a series of predetermined processsteps. The boundary of the structure is defined by a first step, one ormore intermediate steps, and a final step. The resulting structure isformed on a substrate. The following detailed description is, therefore,not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0043] For the discussion that follows, the terminology Gated-FET deviceis used. A gated-FET device is defined as a mixed device between aconventional MOSFET device and a conventional JFET device. The Gated-FETdevice conducting channel is like that of JFET devices: entirelycomprising of a thin film resistive channel between the source and drainregions. There is no inversion layer like in a MOSFET to conductcurrent. The Gated-FET device gate is like that of a MOSFET device: thegate constructed above a dielectric material and capable of modulatingthe thin film channel conduction. There is no gate junction like in aJFET to reverse bias the channel. The Gated-FET device is disclosed indetail in the application “Insulated-Gate Field-Effect Thin FilmTransistors” filed concurrently.

[0044] A Gated-FET switching device per embodiment in FIG. 6Acomprising: a first device having a conducting path 610 coupled betweena first supply voltage 603 and a common output 602; a second devicehaving a conducting path 620 coupled between a second supply voltage 604and said common output 602; and a common input 601 to control said firstand second devices; wherein said conducting path of said first andsecond devices each comprised of a source, a resistive channel and adrain region, said resistive channel formed in between said source anddrain regions having the same dopant type as said source and drainregions, and said resistive channel being modulated to a substantiallynon-conductive state by a first voltage level of said common input 601and modulated to a substantially conductive state by a second voltagelevel of said common input 601.

[0045] A Gated-FET or MOSFET switching device per embodiment in FIG. 6Ccomprising: a first device having a conducting path 650 coupled betweena first supply voltage 643 and a common output 642; a second devicehaving a conducting path 660 coupled between a second supply voltage 644and said common output 642; and a common input 641 to control said firstand second devices, wherein said conductive paths of first and saidsecond devices comprised of a single geometry of a semiconductormaterial. The device in FIG. 6C is further comprised of said conductingpath modulated to a non-conductive state by a first voltage level ofsaid common input 641; and said conducting path modulated to aconductive state by a second voltage level of said common input 641. Theinverter in FIG. 6C further comprises a common gate 652 to control bothdevices. These devices may be constructed as thin film MOSFET or thinfilm Gated-FET devices according to the teachings disclosed in priorapplications.

[0046] In a first embodiment of a latch in accordance with theteachings, a semiconductor latch for integrated circuits is adapted tohave a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage substantially ata lower voltage level than said first supply voltage. The latchcomprises a first and a second semiconductor layer, substantiallydifferent from each other; a first inverter having a first conductingpath coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, and a secondconducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and said output,and said first and second conducting paths constructed in said firstsemiconductor layer; and a second inverter having a first conductingpath coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, and a secondconducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and said output,and said first and second conducting paths constructed in said secondsemiconductor layer.

[0047] In a second embodiment of a latch in accordance with theteachings, a semiconductor latch for integrated circuits is adapted tohave a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage substantially ata lower voltage level than said first supply voltage. The latchcomprises a semiconductor thin film layer, substantially different froma semiconductor substrate layer; a first inverter having a firstconducting path coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, anda second conducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and saidoutput, and said first and second conducting paths constructed in saidsemiconductor thin film layer; and a second inverter having a firstconducting path coupled to said first supply voltage and an output, anda second conducting path coupled to said second supply voltage and saidoutput, and said first and second conducting paths constructed in saidsemiconductor thin film layer.

[0048] In one embodiment of the new switch, all of the transistors areconstructed using MOSFET transistors. In a second embodiment all thetransistors are constructed as thin film Gated-FET transistors. In athird embodiment MOSFET and Gated-FET devices are mixed to formcomplementary transistor pairs. In a fourth embodiment, thin film MOSFETtransistors are used. The transistor may be constructed on Siliconsubstrate. The transistor may be constructed on SOI substrate, orthinned down SOI substrate. The use of transistor types will bediscussed later.

[0049]FIG. 8 demonstrates one embodiment of a new latch and an SRAM cellfor integrated circuits. It is comprised of a first supply voltage 808,and a second supply voltage 807 at a substantially lower voltage levelto first voltage level. Typically supply 808 is system power at V_(D)and supply 807 is system ground at V_(S). The latch has a first and asecond semiconductor layer, substantially different from each other toconstruct the two inverters. The first semiconductor layer may also beused to construct logic transistors for the integrated circuit. A firstinverter 860 has a first conducting path 810 coupled to first supplyvoltage 808 and an output 815, and a second conducting path 820 coupledto second supply voltage 807 and output 815. For the first inverter,first and second conducting paths are constructed in the firstsemiconductor layer. A second inverter 850 has a first conducting path830 coupled to first supply voltage 808 and an output 816, and a secondconducting path 840 coupled to second supply voltage 807 and output 816.For the second inverter first and second conducting paths areconstructed in the second semiconductor layer. The first semiconductorlayer for the latch may be Silicon substrate having a high mobility anda second semiconductor layer for the latch may be poly-crystallineSilicon having a lower mobility. This allows strong inverter 860 to behigh performance, while weak inverter 850 is lower performance. Firstinverter 860 has an input gate 812 selectively coupling one of supplyvoltages to output 815, and second inverter 850 has an input gate 832selectively coupling one of supply voltages to output 816. Input 812 offirst inverter is coupled to output 816 of second inverter, and input832 of second inverter is coupled to output 815 of first inverter tocomplete feed back.

[0050] In FIG. 8 the two semiconductor layers are substantially aboveone another showing a 3D vertical latch construction. The secondinverter does not contribute to the Silicon foot print. In anotherembodiment the two semiconductor layers may be in two separate planes.Latch in FIG. 8 is further comprised of a first access device 870 havinga conducting path 855 connecting output 815 of first inverter 860 and afirst data line 801, and a gate 803 coupled to a first row line 802.Conducting path 855 of first access device 870 is constructed in firstsemiconductor layer. This enables both inverter 860 and access device870 to have the same mobility. On single crystal Silicon substrate theyare all high performance devices. First row line 802 at a first voltagelevel turns conducting path 855 on to substantially couple first dataline 801 to output 815 of first inverter, and row line 802 at a secondvoltage level turns conducting path 855 off to substantially de-couplefirst data line 801 from output 815 of first inverter. Latch is accessedvia the access device 870. To write a zero, data line 801 is forced tozero and row line 802 is forced to one (or voltage V_(D)). An NMOSaccess device turns on and data line 801 forces inverter 860 output 815to a low voltage. The inverter 860 is sized to facilitate this writeoperation. During read, data line 801 is biased to a mid point voltagelevel between V_(S) and V_(D). Typically this voltage level is tied to asense amplifier reference voltage level or a trip voltage level. Rowline is forced high allowing inverter 860 to charge or discharge thedata line. The pull-up and pull-down devices in the inverter 860 eitherraise or lower the voltage of the data line 801. The sense amplifierdetects a small voltage shift, sensing a zero or one at the inverter 860output. Having the same semiconductor layer for transistors 860 and 870allow appropriate sizing needed to read and write data. When the firstsemiconductor layer is single crystal Silicon, the high mobility accessdevice 870 and inverter 860 generate high current drive. Both PMOS andNMOS in strong inverter 860 have high current drive. That will chargeand discharge the data line very quickly. It will also allow a singleended sensing scheme to evaluate data as the data line voltage moves ineither direction. A weak PMOS as shown in FIG. 3 requires dual endedsensing as the data line can only discharge from the strong NMOS. Havinginverter 850 constructed substantially above inverter 860 reduces theSRAM cell area by more than 50%. Smaller cell decreases the lengths ofdata line and row line for the same density memory block betweenconventional SRAM in FIG. 7 and new SRAM in FIG. 8. For a 50% smallerarea, the data line and row line lengths reduce by 30%. Reduced dataline and row line capacitances make the new SRAM memory twice as fastfor a comparable inverter strength.

[0051] Latch in FIG. 8 has a second access device 880 having aconducting path 865 connecting output 816 of second inverter 850 to asecond data line 804, and a gate 806 coupled to a second row line 805 tocontrol the access device. The conducting path 865 of second accessdevice 880 is constructed in the second semiconductor layer, same asconducting paths 830 and 840 of inverter 850. This enables easy scalingof device sizes to write data into inverter 850 via data line 804. Thesecond row line 805 at a first voltage level turns conducting path 865on to substantially couple second data line 804 to output 816 of secondinverter 850. Row line 805 at a second voltage level turns conductingpath 865 off to substantially de-couple second data line 804 from output816 of second inverter 850. When the access device is an NMOS, it isturned on and off by applying V_(D) and V_(S) via row line 805 to gate806. In one embodiment, the second semiconductor layer ispolycrystalline Silicon having a lower mobility for electron and holeconduction. In another embodiment the second semiconductor layer islaser re-crystallized amorphous poly-Silicon thin film layer withreasonably high mobility. Advances is re-crystallization techniques willenable the formation of a second semiconductor layer having similarelectron and hole mobility to that in single crystal Silicon. For mostthin films, the second inverter 850 is a weaker inverter and cannotcharge and discharge data line 804 as quickly as strong inverter 860.Hence data line 804 is not utilized to access data in the latch. Accessdevice 850 may be utilized instead to write data to the latch; moredesirably to write data level zero via data line 804 to reset the latch.For this condition, data line 804 can be a local ground voltage node,same as voltage level 807 used for the latch. This reset function can beachieved in a variety of modes: sector by sector, row by row or columnby column. It depends on how the gate 806 is accessed by the row line805. Sector erase is achieved by a row line 805 common to the wholesector. Row by row erase is achieved by connecting all latches in onerow line 802 also to one row line 806. Column by column erase isachieved by running the row line 806 parallel to data line 801,connecting all the latches in one data line 801 to one row line 806.

[0052] In a first preferred embodiment, the first semiconductor layer isSilicon substrate and a second semiconductor layer is poly-crystallineSilicon layer. Inverter 860 and access device 870 are constructed asregular MOSFET devices. FIG. 8 shows that the conducting paths 810 and820 are not constructed in a single geometry due to latch up rulesbetween NMOS and PMOS devices. Inverter 850 and access device 880 areconstructed as thin film devices. In one case, they are thin film MOSFETdevices, and in a second case they are Gated-FET devices, and in a thirdcase they are mixed MOSFET and Gated-FET devices. In a second preferredembodiment, the first semiconductor layer is an SOI substrate, andinverter 860 and access device 870 are comprised of SOI MOSFET devices.In a third embodiment, the first semiconductor layer is a thinned downSOI Silicon region. The inverter 860 and access device 870 are now thinfilm devices comprised of MOSFET or Gated-FET devices. Thin film deviceshave advantages when the thin film is fully depleted under one of twooperation conditions, and accumulated in the other operating condition.These have been discussed in detail in the co-patent applicationssubmitted herewith.

[0053] In yet other embodiments, first and second semiconductor layersmay be a first and second poly-crystalline Silicon layer, substantiallydifferent from Silicon substrate layer used for logic transistorconstruction. This facilitates low performance, small area SRAM cells tobe vertically integrated above logic transistors for 3D IntegratedCircuits. The performance of these SRAM cells improves with improvementsin re-crystallization techniques in the semiconductor manufacturingindustry.

[0054]FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of a latch and an SRAM cellin accordance with these teachings. All the labels match with the labelsin FIG. 8. The latch in FIG. 9 is comprised of a second inverter 950constructed in a second semiconductor layer compared to first inverter960 and connected back-to-back. Access devices 970 and 980 provide thenecessary connections for data access similar to a conventional 6T SRAMcell. The latch and cell functionality and construction are similar toFIG. 8. In FIG. 9 the inverter 950 is comprised of a single geometry ofsecond semiconductor layer. Conducting path 930 and 940 are formed in athin film semiconductor layer that is merged together at the commonoutput node 916 to form that single geometry. This allows eliminatingthe latch up related distance shown in FIG. 2 for the second inverter,further reducing the cell area needed for the latch. In addition, theconducting path 965 for access device 980 is also in the same thin filmsemiconductor layer, and can be merged into a single geometry. Inverter950 and access device 980 are constructed as thin film MOSFET orGated-FET devices wherein the thin film is fully depleted under one oftwo operating conditions, and accumulated in the other operatingcondition.

[0055]FIG. 10 illustrates another embodiment of a latch and an SRAM cellin accordance with these teachings. All the labels match with the labelsin FIG. 8. The latch in FIG. 10 is comprised of a first inverter 1060constructed in a first semiconductor layer and a second inverter 1050constructed in a second semiconductor layer, and the two invertersconnected back-to-back. Access devices 1070 and 1080 provide thenecessary connections for data access similar to a conventional 6T SRAMcell. The latch and cell functionality and construction are similar toFIG. 8. In FIG. 10 both inverters 1060 and 1050 are comprised of asingle geometry of a first and second semiconductor layer. Conductingpaths 1010 and 1020 are constructed in a single geometry of a first thinfilm semiconductor layer. Conducting path 1055 of access device 1070 canbe merged into the same first semiconductor single geometry. Conductingpaths 1030 and 1040 are formed in a second thin film semiconductorlayer, and can be merged with the conducting path 1065 of access device1080 into a single geometry. Conducting paths merge together at thecommon output nodes 1015 and 1016 respectively to form the two singlegeometries. This allows eliminating the latch up related distance shownin FIG. 2 for both inverters, further reducing the cell area needed forthe latch. Inverters 1050, 1060 and access devices 1070, 1080 areconstructed as thin film MOSFET or Gated-FET devices wherein the thinfilm is fully depleted under one of two operating conditions, andaccumulated in the other operating condition. The first semiconductor inthis embodiment may be an SOI substrate or a thinned down SOI substrate.The same substrate may be used to build logic transistors. In anotherembodiment, the first and second layers are thin-film semiconductorlayers different from a substrate used for logic transistorconstruction.

[0056]FIG. 11 illustrates yet another embodiment of a latch and an SRAMcell in accordance with these teachings. All the labels match with thelabels in FIG. 8. The latch comprises a first supply voltage 1108, and asecond supply voltage 1107 substantially at a lower voltage level thansaid first supply voltage. A semiconductor thin film layer,substantially different from a semiconductor substrate layer used forlogic transistor construction is used for inverter 1150 and 1160construction. A first inverter 1150 has a first conducting path 1120coupled to said first supply voltage 1108 and an output 1115, and asecond conducting path 1110 coupled to said second supply voltage 1107and said output 1115, and said first and second conducting pathsconstructed in said semiconductor thin film layer. A second inverter1160 has a first conducting path 1130 coupled to said first supplyvoltage 1108 and an output 1116, and a second conducting path 1140coupled to said second supply voltage 1107 and said output 1116, andsaid first and second conducting paths constructed in said semiconductorthin film layer. The two inverters are connected back-to-back. Accessdevices 1170 and 1180 provide the necessary connections for data accesssimilar to a conventional 6T SRAM cell. The latch and cell functionalityand construction are similar to FIG. 8. In FIG. 11 conducting paths1110, 1120, 1130 and 1140 for inverters 1160 and 1150 are comprised of asingle geometry of a thin film semiconductor layer. Conducting pathsmerge together at the common output nodes 1115 and 1116 respectively toform that single geometry. This allows eliminating the latch up relateddistance shown in FIG. 2 for both inverters, further reducing the cellarea needed for the latch. In another embodiment, conducting paths 1155and 1165 of access devices 1170 and 1180 are also integrated into thesame thin film semiconductor layer and constructed in a single geometry.Inverters 1150, 1160 and access devices 1170, 1180 are constructed asthin film MOSFET or Gated-FET devices wherein the thin film is fullydepleted under one of two operating conditions, and accumulated in theother operating condition.

[0057] The embodiment in FIG. 1 illustrates a thin film SRAM cellconstructed in a plane substantially different from logic transistorconstruction plane. The SRAM cell can be substantially above the logictransistor taking no Silicon lateral area. Furthermore, the output 1115or 1116 can be vertically coupled to logic transistor gates or diffusionnodes with direct contacts. This reduces the use of metal wires neededfor local wiring and improves layout efficiency, as in ULSI circuits thefirst few metal layers are heavily used for local connections. As theSRAM cell is located in the same area as logic transistors, theterminology buried SRAM cell is used in this discussion. TFT film in oneembodiment is as deposited poly-Silicon film that is annealed by RTA. Inyet another embodiment, this is a laser annealed film to improve themobility for electron and hole conduction. Advances isre-crystallization techniques will enable the formation of a secondsemiconductor layer having similar electron and hole mobility to that insingle crystal Silicon. In most thin film TFTs the drive currents arelower than single crystal Silicon transistors. TFT memory access timesare larger than substrate Silicon memory. TFT memory lends to costefficiency for slow access applications. Such applications arise inVideo Graphics and Programmable Logic industries. In Video Graphics, thevideo controller of raster displays often includes a videoLook-Up-Table, also called a LUT. There are as many LUT entries as pixelvalues. These values control the intensity or color of the CRT. For 60times per second refresh rates, the LUT memory access time varies from50 nSec to 1000 nSec based on how many pixels are fetched in one cycle.Hence 200 nSec to 1000 nSec access times are fairly common to fetch 4 to16 pixels per display cycle. In Programmable Logic, the customization ofthe Truth Table logic is stored in Look-Up-Tables also called LUTs. Inaddition, the programmable MUX data is also stored in latches. Both LUTand MUX memory is called Configuration RAM These values directly controlthe signal level on logic gates. There are as many Configuration RAMentries as programmable gates. There is no access time involved. In bothcases, an off chip inexpensive permanent memory device such as Flash,DRAM of Magnetic Tape stores the required data, downloading it to buriedSRAM memory on chip during power-up for local use. Such techniques canuse a local on chip CPU or a memory controller to manage memory refresh,and free system CPU to perform other functions.

[0058] In one embodiment of a new latch, all of the transistors areconstructed using thin film MOSFET transistors. FIGS. 12A and 12B showthe top view and cross sectional view of a thin film CMOS MOSFETinverter in accordance with aspects of the present invention. ComparingFIG. 2A with 12A, the spacing Y=0 for TFT CMOS inverter. There is alsono N-well and no P-well as the body 1250 is very thin. TFT PMOS 1210 isbutted against TFT NMOS 1220 at the common output node 1202. Common gatenode 1260 having a common input terminal 1201 ties the PMOS gate region1252 to NMOS gate region 1255. Both devices are built on a singlesemiconductor geometry 1250 as shown in FIG. 12B, but have multipleimplant-regions: PMOS source 1251, PMOS body 1252, PMOS drain 1253, NMOSdrain 1254, NMOS body 1255, and NMOS source 1256. The NMOS gate above1255 is doped N+ while the PMOS gate above 1252 is doped P+ to achievethe threshold voltages (V_(T)) for the MOSFETs. For each device, Gate,Drain and Source dopant type is the same. One N+ implant for NMOS andone P+ implant for PMOS can dope Gate, Drain and Source regions afterthe gates are etched and spacers are formed. The body doping levels P−for NMOS 1255 and N− for PMOS 1252 are chosen to achieve the desirableV_(T). In FIG. 12B gate 1260 is salicided and drain & source regions areeither partially salicided or not salicided. N+ and P+ dopant is neededto define drain and source regions. In another embodiment the source anddrain regions are completely salicided as whole layer 1250 is consumedduring salicidation to reduce the source & drain resistance. When fullysalicided, the source & drain regions are defined by the self alignedtip implants under spacer oxides adjacent to the gate regions and no N+or P+ implants are needed (such spacers are not shown in FIG. 12, butare similar to those in FIG. 13). The first semiconductor geometry 1250forming the conducting paths for devices 1210 and 1220 can be a thinneddown SOI single crystal Silicon film, or a deposited thinPoly-crystalline Silicon film, or a post laser annealed as depositedamorphous Poly-crystalline Silicon film The thickness of the first layerand doping are optimized with the gate oxide thickness to get therequired V_(T), on-current and off-current for these devices. The firstlayer thickness is further optimized to contain the conducting fullinversion layer within the film thickness and to ensure a filly depletedbody for the MOSFET when the device is on. A thickness parameter X for asemiconductor material is defined by:

X=q ²/(2*kT*ε _(S)) Angstroms  (EQ 1)

[0059] Where, q is electron charge, kT/q is the thermal voltage andε_(S) is the permittivity of the semiconductor material that is used forthe conducting body of the MOSFET. For Si semiconductor at 300 Kelvin,X=299 Angstroms. In this embodiment, the first layer thickness t_(P1) inAngstroms and first layer doping D in Atoms/Angstroms³ are chosen suchthat it satisfies the following inequalities:

1/(D*t _(P1) ²)<X Angstroms  (EQ 2)

1/(D*t _(P1) ²)>0.5 *X/Ln(D/N _(i)) Angstroms  (EQ 3)

[0060] Where, N_(i) is the intrinsic carrier concentration of thesemiconductor material. For Silicon at room temperature, N_(i)1=1.45e-14Atoms/A³. For 250A thick first Silicon film doped to 5E-7 Atoms/A³, theleft hand ratio of Eq-2 and Eq-3 becomes 32A, while X is 299A (roundedto 300A for simplicity) and the right hand side of Eq-3 is 8.6Angstroms. Both of the inequalities are thus satisfied. For a practicalrange of gate oxide thicknesses in the range 30A to 100A, the bodyregion needs to be doped greater than 1E16 Atoms/cm³ to achieve thecorrect threshold voltage. For that minimum doping density, the righthand side of Eq-3 becomes 11 Angstroms. The first inequality in Eq-2ensures that when the MOSFET is on, the inversion layer is fullycontained inside the first layer. The second condition in Eq-3 ensuresthat the first layer is fully depleted when the MOSFET is on. The firstthin layer and second gate layer salicidation is achieved in onesalicidation process step. The deposited Nickel or Cobalt thickness andRapid Thermal Anneal cycle optimization will allow fill consumption offirst layer during salicidation. The functionality of the new inverteris identical to the conventional inverter shown in FIG. 2, but occupiesmuch less area.

[0061] Other embodiments may use gate and substrate materials differentfrom Silicon. Gate dielectrics can be oxide, oxy-nitride, nitride, ormulti-layered insulators. The semiconductor material may be Silicon,Silicon-germanium, gallium-arsenide, germanium, or any other III-Vmaterial. The gate material may be poly-Silicon, aluminum, tungsten, orany other metal The value of X in equation-1 will change based on thephysical properties of the materials chosen to form the MOSFET device.The device threshold voltage is designed to be in the range ⅕ to ⅓ ofVcc value and the gate oxide thickness is optimized and surface chargedensity is controlled to achieve that.

[0062] In another embodiment of the inverter, all of the thin filmtransistors are constructed using complementary Gated-FETs, whilemaintaining the logic voltage level of the process. FIGS. 13A and 13Bshow the top view and cross sectional view of a TFT Gated-FET inverterin accordance with aspects of the present invention. Compared to theJFET device in FIG. 5, the Gated-JFET device in FIG. 13 has a similarconducting body, but the double diffused gate is replaced by a singleinsulated-Gate like that in MOSFET of FIG. 4.

[0063] In FIG. 13, a Gated-PFET device 1310 and a Gated-NFET device 1320are merged at a common node 1302. The Gated-PFET source is connected toa first voltage source 1303 (V_(D)) and Gated-NFET source is connectedto a second voltage source 1304 (V_(S)). These could be power and groundterminals respectively. There is also no N-well and no P-well. Commongate node 1360 having a common input 1301 ties the Gated-PFET gateregion 1352 to Gated-NFET gate region 1355. During operation, if thegate is zero, the Gated-PFET device 1310 is on, and the Gated-NFETdevice 1320 is off, and the common node 1302 is coupled to V_(D) so thatthe output is at logic one. If the gate is at logic one, the Gated-PFETdevice 1310 is off and the Gated-NFET device 1320 is on, and the commonnode 1302 is coupled to V_(S) to provide a logic zero at the output.Compared to conventional JFET shown in FIG. 5, the thin film Gated-FETcan be built with a common gate by appropriate control of layer 1350thickness. One aspect of this invention is the ability to have acomplementary gate input for Gated-FET inverter with identical voltagerange V_(S) to V_(D).

[0064] Both devices are built on a single semiconductor geometry 1350 asshown in FIG. 13B, but have multiple implant regions: Gated-PFET source1381, Gated-PFET body 1352, Gated-PFET drain 1383, Gated-NFET drain1384, Gated-NFET body 1355, and Gated-NFET source 1386. In additionthere are filly salicided conductors such as region 1370 in theconducting path. The Gated-NFET gate above 1355 is doped P+ while theGated-PFET gate above 1352 is doped N+ to achieve the threshold voltages(V_(T)) for the Gated-FETs. The channel doping levels N− for Gated-NFET1355 and P− for Gated-PFET 1352 are chosen to achieve the desirableconducting on and off current levels. In FIG. 13B gate 1360 is partiallysalicided while source and drain regions are completely salicided likeregion 1370 to reduce the source & drain resistance. When fullysalicided, the source & drain regions are defined by the self alignedlightly doped drain (LDD) tip implants 1381, 1383, 1384 and 1386 shownunder the spacer oxides adjacent to the gate regions in FIG. 13C, and noN+ or P+ implants are needed. PJFET LDD tips are P type, while the NJFETLDD tips are N type.

[0065] Compared to FIG. 12, the Gated-FET gates in FIG. 13 are dopedopposite to Source/Drain LDD dopant type. This is easily achieved in thefully salicided source/drain embodiment shown in FIG. 13B. TheGated-NFET and Gated-PFET gate regions are first doped P+ and N+respectively before the gates are etched. After gates are etched, priorto spacer formation, Gated-NFETs are implanted with N type LDD tipimplant and Gated-PFETs are implanted with P type LDD tip implant. Thetip-implant dose is much lower than the gate doping to affect gatedoping type. The Source & Drain regions are now defined by the selfaligned tip implants shown under the spacer oxides adjacent to the gateregions. As the drain and source regions outside the spacer are fullyconsumed by salicide, those regions do not need heavy doping. Thechannel doping levels N− for Gated-NFET and P− for Gated-PFET are chosento achieve the desirable V_(T). The Gated-NFET is off with zero bias onthe gate by filly depleting the first thin film region under the gate,and is on when the gate is at V_(D). The Gated-PFET is off with V_(D)bias on the gate by fully depleting the first thin film region under thegate, and is on when the gate is at V_(S). The first semiconductor layerforming the body for 1310 and 1320 can be thinned down SOI singlecrystal Silicon material, or a first thin-film poly-Silicon layer. Athicker first film allows higher current. The thickness is furtheroptimized to allow the entire film to conduct in its on state, and theentire film to be depleted in its off state. A thickness parameter Y fora semiconductor material is defined by:

Y=q/(2*ε_(S)*Φ_(MS)) Angstroms  (EQ 4)

[0066] Where, q is electron charge and ε_(S) is the permittivity of thesemiconductor material that is used for the conducting body of theGated-FET and Φ_(MS) is the gate to body work function. When there isfixed charge in the oxide, Φ_(MS) in EQ-4 is replaced by V_(FB), theflat band voltage for the device. For Φ_(MS) approximately 1 Volt, andSi semiconductor material, Y is 7.7 Angstroms. In this embodiment, thefirst layer thickness t_(P1) is in Angstroms, first layer doping D inAtoms/Angstroms³, gate dielectric thickness to in Angstroms andpermittivity ε_(G) are chosen such that they satisfy the followinginequality:

1/[D*(t _(P1)+(ε_(S)/ε_(G))*t _(P1))² ]>Y Angstroms  (EQ 5)

[0067] For Si-oxide systems with Φ_(MS) approximately 1 Volt, Eq-5reduces to:

1/[D*(t _(P1)+3*t _(OX))²]>7.7 Angstroms  (EQ 6)

[0068] Eq-5 and Eq-6 ensures that the first layer is fully depleted whenthe Gated-FET is off. For 70A thick gate oxide, P+ doped poly-Silicontop gate at zero potential, Gated-NFET body N− doped to 5E17 Atoms/cm3,the left hand side of Eq-6 allows a maximum first film thickness of300A. A more rigorous surface potential and depletion thicknesscalculation yields, a surface potential of 0.454 volts, and a maximumdepletion of 343 Angstroms, in good agreement with this result.

[0069] In FIG. 13 the Gated-PFET is built in two thin film layersseparated by a gate dielectric 1325 grown either thermally or depositedby PECVD. The first thin film layer 1350 (P1) forms the body of thetransistor. In one embodiment, this is thinned down single crystal SOIlayer. In another embodiment this is a deposited poly-Silicon layer. TheP1 layer is deposited above the insulator layer 1340. A P1 mask is usedto define and etch these P1 islands. Gated-PFET regions are maskselected and implanted with P− doping, the channel doping level requiredfor Gated-PFET devices. Gated-NFET gets an N− implant. The gate 1360 isdeposited after the gate insulator 1325 is deposited as a second thinfilm layer (P2). In the embodiment shown, the second thin film layer isa poly-Silicon layer. The Gated-PFET gate poly 1352 is mask selected andimplanted N+ prior to gate definition and etch Gated-NFET gate region1355 is mask selected and doped P+. The gate regions are then definedand etched. P tip implant region 1381 and 1383 are defined and implantedfor Gated-PFET, while an N tips 1384 and 1386 are defined and implantedfor Gated-NJFET. This can be done by open selecting Gated-PFET devices,and not selecting Gated-NFET device. The N+/P+ doped gates are notaffected by the lower P/N implant levels. Gate 1360 blocks tip implantgetting into channel regions 1352 and 1355, and only P1 regions outsideP2 gets this P implant. Spacer oxide regions 1381, 1383, 1384 and 1386are formed on either side of gates by conventional oxide deposition andetch back techniques. In FIG. 13A, the P2 gate 1360 is perpendicular toP1 body 1350. The Gated-PFET P2 gate and spacers sub-divide the P1 bodyinto five regions: (1) source region 1303, (2) source spacer region 1381doped with P tip implant, (3) channel region 1352 doped with P− implant,(4) drain spacer region 1383 also doped with P tip implant and (5) drainregion 1370. The Gated-NFET P2 gate and spacers sub-divide the P1 bodyinto five regions: (1) source region 1304, (2) source spacer region 1386doped with N tip implant, (3) channel region 1355 doped with N− implant,(4) drain spacer region 1384 also doped with N tip implant and (5) drainregion 1370. The source and drain regions are fully salicided and needno implant. After the spacer etch, exposed P2 and P1 regions are reactedwith deposited Nickel (or Cobalt) and salicided using Rapid ThermalAnnealing. The P tip implant after P2 etch forms self-aligned PSource/Drain tip regions and salicidation after spacer etch forms selfaligned Source/Drain salicide regions.

[0070] The total resistance of the conducting body region for Gated-PFETand Gated-NFET is determined as follows:

R=ρ _(P1) *L _(P2)/(W _(P1) *t _(P1))  (EQ 7)

[0071] Where, ρp, is the resistivity of lightly doped P1 region in theresistive channel, L_(P2) is poly resistor length 1352 and 1355 inFIGS-13B, W_(P1) is the width of P1 1310 and 1320 in FIG. 13A, andt_(P1) is 1350 P1 thickness (FIG. 13B). Gate voltage and channeldepletion heavily modulates resistivity ρ_(P1). Parameters are chosenfor R to be in the 1 KOhm to 1 Meg-Ohm range, preferably 10 KOhm to 100KOhms, when the channel is on. As an example, for P-doping 2E17atoms/cm³, neglecting the effect of channel modulation in the P− region,the resistivity for single crystal Silicon is 0.12 Ohm-cm. WhenL_(P2=)0.3 μ, W_(P1)=0.3μ, t_(P1)=400 Angstroms, R is 30 KOhms. This isthe conducting path resistance under flat band conditions. WhenV_(DS)=0.3V, the channel current I_(ON) is 10 μA. Poly-Silicon mobilityis lower than single crystal Silicon degrading the on current, whilesurface accumulation from the gate bias can enhance the on current.Gated-FETs allow thicker P1 film thicknesses compared to MOSFETs in thinfilm devices, and hence higher currents.

[0072] The usage of thin films eliminates the need for diode gates andassociated forward biased diode currents in Gated-FETs. Thus, thevoltage level is not increased. It also allows forming Gated-NFET andGated-PFET in the same process, and combining those to form logicinverters with a common thin film node. Moreover, the P1 film isolatesN− body and P-body from one another, minimizing latch-up possibilitiesallowing a smaller inverter layout area. Other embodiments may use gateand substrate materials different from Silicon. Gate dielectrics can beoxide, oxy-nitride, nitride, or multi-layered insulators. Thesemiconductor material may be Silicon, germanium-Silicon,gallium-arsenide, or germanium. The gate material may be poly-Silicon,aluminum, tungsten, or any other metal. The device threshold voltage isdesigned to be in the range ⅕ to ⅓ Of V_(D) value.

[0073] In other embodiments in accordance with the current invention,the inverter can be made by combining MOSFET and Gated-FET devices. Inone embodiment, a PMOS pull up device-1 and Gated-NFET pull downdevice-2 can form the inverter. In another embodiment, a Gated-PFET pullup device-1 and an NMOS pull down device 2 can form the inverter. Thepull-up device source is connected to V_(D) and pull-down device sourceis connected to V_(S) for both inverters. These mixed mode inverterpairs allow first thin-film body to be doped with the same dopant type,facilitating device optimization with less mask counts. Gated-PJFET andNMOS have P− doping in the conducting path. Gated-NJFET and PMOS have N−doping in the conducting path. The LDD tip implant type and gate implanttype differentiate between the device types.

[0074] For conducting paths 650 and 660 in FIG. 6C a high quality P1film is beneficial. As used herein, P1 refers to the first thin filmsemiconductor layer in FIG. 6C forming the conducting paths 650 and 660,and P2 refers to the second semiconductor layer in FIG. 6C forming thegate 652. An ideal film is a single crystal Silicon with a precisethickness control deposited over an insulator. In SOI technology, thesingle crystal Silicon layer above an insulator meets this criterion.Inside the latch array, P1 is mask selected and thinned down to therequired thickness to satisfy the operating needs of the thin filmtransistors.

[0075] The following terms used herein are acronyms associated withcertain manufacturing processes. The acronyms and their abbreviationsare as follows: V_(T) Threshold voltage LDN Lightly doped NMOS drain LDPLightly doped PMOS drain LDD Lightly doped drain RTA Rapid thermalannealing Ni Nickel Ti Titanium TiN Titanium-Nitride W Tungsten S SourceD Drain G Gate ILD Inter layer dielectric C1 Contact-1 M1 Metal-1 P1Poly-1 P2 Poly-2 P− Positive light dopant (Boron species, BF₂) N−Negative light dopant (Phosphorous, Arsenic) P+ Positive high dopant(Boron species, BF₂) N+ Negative high dopant (Phosphorous, Arsenic) GoxGate oxide C2 Contact-2 LPCVD Low pressure chemical vapor deposition CVDChemical vapor deposition ONO Oxide-nitride-oxide LTO Low temperatureoxide

[0076] A logic process is used to fabricate CMOS devices on a substratelayer. These CMOS devices may be used to build AND gates, OR gates,inverters, adders, multipliers, memory and other logic functions in anintegrated circuit. A CMOS TFT module layer or a Complementary Gated-FETTFT module layer may be inserted to a logic process at a first contactmask to build a second set of TFT MOSFET or Gated-FET devices. Anexemplary logic process may include one or more of following steps:

[0077] P-type substrate starting wafer

[0078] Shallow Trench isolation: Trench Etch, Trench Fill and CMP

[0079] Sacrificial oxide

[0080] PMOS V_(T) mask & implant

[0081] NMOS V_(T) mask & implant

[0082] Pwell implant mask and implant through field

[0083] Nwell implant mask and implant through field

[0084] Dopant activation and anneal

[0085] Sacrificial oxide etch

[0086] Gate oxidation/Dual gate oxide option

[0087] Gate poly (GP) deposition

[0088] GP mask & etch

[0089] LDN mask & implant

[0090] LDP mask & implant

[0091] Spacer oxide deposition & spacer etch

[0092] N+ mask and NMOS N+ G, S, D implant

[0093] P+ mask and PMOS P+ G, S, D implant

[0094] Ni deposition

[0095] RTA anneal—Ni salicidation (S/D/G regions & interconnect)

[0096] Unreacted Ni etch

[0097] ILD oxide deposition & CMP

[0098] FIG. 14 shows an exemplary process for fabricating a thin filmMOSFET latch in a thin film module layer. A TFT module is inserted to alogic process to build this second set of devices. In one embodiment theprocess in FIG. 14 forms the latch in a layer substantially above thesubstrate layer as shown in FIG. 1. In a second embodiment the processin FIG. 14 forms a latch shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. The processingsequence in FIGS. 14.1 through 14.7 describes the physical constructionof a MOSFET TFT device shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 12. The TFT module inFIG. 14 includes adding one or more following steps to the logic processafter ILD oxide CMP step.

[0099] C1 mask & etch

[0100] W-Silicide plug fill & CMP

[0101] ˜300A poly P1 (crystalline poly-1) deposition

[0102] P1 mask & etch

[0103] Blanket Vtn P− implant (NMOS Vt)

[0104] Vtp mask & N− implant (PMOS Vt)

[0105] TFT Gox (70A PECV_(D)) deposition

[0106] 500A P2 (crystalline poly-2) deposition

[0107] P2 mask & etch

[0108] Blanket LDN NMOS N-tip implant

[0109] LDP mask and PMOS P-tip implant

[0110] Spacer LTO deposition

[0111] Spacer LTO etch to form spacers & expose P1

[0112] Blanket N+ implant (NMOS G/SID & interconnect)

[0113] P+ mask & implant (PMOS G/S/D & interconnect)

[0114] Ni deposition

[0115] RTA salicidation and poly re-crystallization (G/S/D regions &interconnect)

[0116] Dopant activation anneal

[0117] Excess Ni etch

[0118] ILD oxide deposition & CMP

[0119] C2 mask & etch

[0120] W plug formation & CMP

[0121] M1 deposition and back end metallization

[0122] The TFT process technology consists of creating NMOS & PMOSpoly-Silicon transistors. In the embodiment in FIG. 14, the moduleinsertion is after the substrate device gate poly etch and the ILD filmdeposition. In other embodiments the insertion point may be after M1 andthe ILD deposition, prior to V1 mask, or between two metal definitionsteps.

[0123] After gate poly of regular logic transistors are patterned andetched, the poly is salicided using Nickel & RTA sequences. Then the ILDis deposited, and polished by CMP techniques to a desired thickness. Inthe shown embodiment, the contact mask is split into two levels. Thefirst C1 mask contains all contacts that connect latch outputs tosubstrate transistor gates and active nodes. Then the C1 mask is used toopen and etch contacts in the ILD film. Ti/TiN glue layer followed byW-Six plugs, W plugs or Si plugs may be used to fill the plugs, then CMPpolished to leave the fill material only in the contact holes. Thechoice of fill material is based on the thermal requirements of the TFTmodule. In another embodiment poly-Silicon plug fill is used tofacilitate higher temperature exposure for TFT films.

[0124] Then, a first P1 poly layer, amorphous or crystalline, isdeposited by LPCVD to a desired thickness as shown in FIG. 14.1. The P1thickness is between 50A and 1000A, and preferably 250A. This poly layerP1 is used for the channel, source, and drain regions for both NMOS andPMOS TFT's. It is patterned and etched to form the transistor bodyregions. In other embodiments, P1 is used for contact pedestals. NMOStransistors are blanket implanted with P− doping, while the PMOStransistor regions are mask selected and implanted with N− doping. Thisis shown in FIG. 14.2. The implant doses and P1 thickness are optimizedto get the required threshold voltages for PMOS & NMOS devices underfully depleted transistor operation, and maximize on/off device currentratio. The pedestals implant type is irrelevant at this point. Inanother embodiment, the V_(T) implantation is done with a mask P−implant followed by masked N− implant. First doping can also be donein-situ during poly deposition or by blanket implant after poly isdeposited.

[0125] Patterned and implanted P1 may be subjected to dopant activationand crystallization In one embodiment, RTA cycle is used to activate &crystallize the poly after it is patterned to near single crystal form.In a second embodiment, the gate dielectric is deposited, and buriedcontact mask is used to etch areas where P1 contacts P2 layer. Then, Niis deposited and salicided with RTA cycle. All of the P1 in contact withNi is salicided, while the rest poly is crystallized to near singlecrystal form. Then the unreacted Ni is etched away. In a thirdembodiment, amorphous poly is crystallized prior to P1 patterning withan oxide cap, metal seed mask, Ni deposition and MILC(Metal-Induced-Lateral-Crystallization).

[0126] Then the TFT gate dielectric layer is deposited followed by P2layer deposition. The dielectric is deposited by PECV_(D) techniques toa desired thickness in the 30-200A range, desirably 70A thick. The gatemay be grown thermally by using RTA. This gate material could be anoxide, nitride, oxynitride, ONO structure, or any other dielectricmaterial combination used as gate dielectric. The dielectric thicknessis determined by the voltage level of the process. At this point anoptional buried contact mask (BC) may be used to open selected P1contact regions, etch the dielectric and expose P1 layer. BC could beused on P1 pedestals to form P1/P2 stacks over C1. In the P1 salicidedembodiment using Ni, the dielectric deposition and buried contact etchoccur before the crystallization. In the preferred embodiment, no BC isused.

[0127] Then second poly P2 layer, 300A to 2000A thick, preferably 500Ais deposited as amorphous or crystalline poly-Silicon by LPCVD as shownin FIG. 14.3. P2 layer is defined into NMOS & PMOS gate regionsintersecting the P1 layer body regions, C1 pedestals if needed, andlocal interconnect lines and then etched. The P2 layer etching iscontinued until the dielectric oxide is exposed over P1 areas uncoveredby P2 (source, drain, P1 resistors). As shown in FIG. 10A, the source &drain P1 regions orthogonal to P2 gate regions are now self aligned toP2 gate edges. The S/D P2 regions may contact P1 via buried contacts.NMOS devices are blanket implanted with LDN N− dopant. Then PMOS devicesare mask selected and implanted with LDP P− dopant as shown in FIG.14.4. The implant energy ensures full dopant penetration through theresidual oxide into the S/D regions adjacent to P2 layers.

[0128] A spacer oxide is deposited over the LDD implanted P2 using LTOor PECV_(D) techniques. The oxide is etched to form spacers 1384 shownin FIG. 13B. The spacer etch leaves a residual oxide over P1 in a firstembodiment, and completely removes oxide over exposed P1 in a secondembodiment. The latter allows for P1 salicidation at a subsequent step.Then NMOS devices & N+ poly interconnects are blanket implanted with N+.The implant energy ensures full or partial dopant penetration into the100A residual oxide in the S/D regions adjacent to P2 layers. Thisdoping gets to gate, drain & source of all NMOS devices and N+interconnects. The P+ mask is used to select PMOS devices and P+interconnect, and implanted with P+ dopant as shown in FIG. 14.5. PMOSgate, drain & source regions receive the P+ dopant. This N+/P+ implantscan be done with N+ mask followed by P+ mask The V_(T) implanted P1regions are now completely covered by P2 layer and spacer regions, andform channel regions of NMOS & PMOS transistors.

[0129] After the P+/N+ implants, Nickel is deposited over P2 andsalicided to form a low resistive refractory metal on exposed poly byRTA. Un-reacted Ni is etched as shown in FIG. 14.6. This 100A-500A thickCo-salicide connects the opposite doped poly-2 regions togetherproviding low resistive poly wires for data. In one embodiment, theresidual gate dielectric left after the spacer prevents P1 layersalicidation. In a second embodiment, as the residual oxide is removedover exposed P1 after spacer etch, P1 is salicided. The thickness of Nideposition may be used to control full or partial salicidation of P1regions in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14.6. Fully salicided S/D regions up tospacer edge facilitate high drive current due to lower source and drainresistances.

[0130] An LTO film is deposited over P2 layer, and polished flat withCMP. A second contact mask C2 is used to open contacts into the TFT P2and P1 regions in addition to all other contacts to substratetransistors. In the shown embodiment, C1 contacts connecting latchoutputs to substrate transistor gates require no C2 contacts. Contactplugs are filled with tungsten, CMP polished, and connected by metal asdone in standard contact metallization of IC's as shown in FIG. 14.7.

[0131] A TFT process sequence similar to that shown in FIG. 14 can beused to build Complementary Gated-FET thin film devices shown in FIG. 5and FIG. 13. The process steps facilitate the device doping differencesbetween MOSFET and Gated-FET devices, and simultaneous formation ofcomplementary Gated-FET TFT devices. A detailed description for thisprocess was provided when describing FIG. 13 earlier. An exemplaryCGated-FET process sequence may use one or more of the following steps:

[0132] C1 mask & etch

[0133] W-Silicide plug fill & CMP

[0134] ˜300A poly P1 (crystalline poly-1) deposition

[0135] P1 mask & etch

[0136] Blanket Vtn N-implant (Gated-NFET V_(T))

[0137] Vtp mask & P-implant (Gated-PFET V_(T))

[0138] TFT Gox (70A PECV_(D)) deposition

[0139] 500A P2 (crystalline poly-2) deposition

[0140] Blanket P+ implant (Gated-NFET gate & interconnect)

[0141] N+ mask & implant (Gated-PFET gate & interconnect)

[0142] P2 mask & etch

[0143] Blanket LDN Gated-NFET N tip implant

[0144] LDP mask and Gated-PFET P tip implant

[0145] Spacer LTO deposition

[0146] Spacer LTO etch to form spacers & expose P1

[0147] Ni deposition

[0148] RTA salicidation and poly re-crystallization (exposed P1 and P2)

[0149] Fully salicidation of exposed P1 S/D regions

[0150] Dopant activation anneal

[0151] Excess Ni etch

[0152] ILD oxide deposition & CMP

[0153] C2 mask & etch

[0154] W plug formation & CMP

[0155] M1 deposition and back end metallization

[0156] In another embodiment, thinned down SOI is used to construct thelatch shown in FIG. 11. A logic process used to fabricate CMOS deviceson a substrate layer is modified to accommodate thinned down latchregions. These periphery devices may be used to build AND gates, ORgates, inverters, adders, multipliers, memory and other logic functionsin an integrated circuit. Latch devices may be constructed to integratea high density of latches or memory into the first fabrication module. Athinned down module is inserted to an exemplary logic process that mayinclude one or more of following steps:

[0157] SOI substrate wafer

[0158] Shallow Trench isolation: Trench Etch, Trench Fill and CMP

[0159] Sacrificial oxide

[0160] Periphery PMOS V_(T) mask & implant

[0161] Periphery NMOS V_(T) mask & implant

[0162] Periphery Pwell implant mask and implant through field

[0163] Periphery Nwell implant mask and implant through field

[0164] Latch mask and Silicon etch

[0165] Latch NMOS V_(T) mask and implant

[0166] Latch PMOS V_(T) mask and implant

[0167] Dopant activation and anneal

[0168] Sacrificial oxide etch

[0169] Gate oxidation/Dual gate oxide option

[0170] Gate poly (GP) deposition

[0171] GP mask & etch

[0172] LDN mask & N− implant

[0173] LDP mask & P− implant

[0174] Spacer oxide deposition & spacer etch

[0175] N+ mask and N+ implant

[0176] P+ mask and P+ implant

[0177] Ni deposition

[0178] RTA anneal—Ni salicidation (S/D/G regions & interconnect)

[0179] Dopant activation

[0180] Unreacted Ni etch

[0181] ILD oxide deposition & CMP

[0182] C mask and etch

[0183] In this embodiment, the latch body doping is independentlyoptimized for performance, but shares the same LDN, LDP, N+ and P+implants. The SOI thickness is assumed to be large to warrant wellimplants for peripheral CMOS devices. Based on dopant type selection,the latch can be complementary MOSFET or Gated-FET devices. In theGated-FET embodiment, the Gated-FET gates are separately doped N+ & P+prior to gate etch, and blocked during N+/P+ implants of peripheraldevices. In other embodiments, latch devices and periphery devices mayshare one or more V_(T) implants. One P2 is used for latch andperipheral device gates. In another embodiment, SOI substrate devicesmay be integrated with a TFT latch module. This allows for a SOIinverter and TFT inverter to be vertically integrated to build highdensity, fast access memory devices.

[0184] Processes described in the incorporated-by-reference ProvisionalApplication Serial Nos. 60/393,763 and 60/397,070 support poly-filmTFT-SRAM cell and anti-fuse construction. This new usage differs fromthe process of FIG. 14 in doping levels and film thicknesses optimizedfor switch applications. The thin-film transistor construction and theThin-Film Anti-Fuse construction may exist side by side with thisThin-Film Latch element if the design parameters overlap. Such Fuse andAnti-Fuse Non Volatile Memory (NVM) elements allow SRAM memory repairand redundancy implementation for very large memory density arrays.

[0185]FIG. 15 shows an SRAM cell layout in accordance with theembodiment shown in FIG. 9. Strong MOSFET transistors are fabricated forthe first inverter 1504 and access NMOS device 1510. Second inverter1507 and access device 1511 are fabricated in a thin film semiconductorlayer as weak MOSFET or weak Gated-FET TFT devices. Comparing FIG. 15Awith FIG. 1A there are some differences in this embodiment of the 6TSRAM memory cell. There are two separate row lines 1506 and 1503. Rowline 1503 is used to access data path 1501 to write and read data fromthe latch. Strong MOSFET devices 1510 and 1507 allow fast access times.Row line 1506 is used as a reset feature. Thin film latch 1507 output isconnected to a global ground via the access device 1511. Asserting therow line 1506 pulls the inverter 1507 output to logic zero forcing theinput to a logic one. The latch enters a stability point with logic 1 atthe output of inverter 1504, and a logic zero at the output of inverter1507. When the state needs to be reversed, data line 1501 is set to zeroand row line 1503 is asserted high. The NMOS pass gate 1510 couples thedata line ground to the output of inverter 1504. The stronger data pathdrives that output to a logic zero, forcing the input to logic 1. Nowthe data state is reversed from the previous reset state. Each cell canbe individually set to a desired state via the data line 1501 and rowline 1503. The layout shown in FIG. 15B illustrates the small arearealized by constructing one inverter above the other. Compared toregular CMOS layout rules, the layout area is reduced to less than halfLayer by layer construction of FIG. 15B is shown in FIGS. 16.1 through16.7. FIG. 16.1 shows the Nwell and active geometries on substrateSilicon surface. The Nwell (doped N type) is inside geometry 1601, whilePwell (doped P type) is outside that geometry. The active area has fourdifferent designations. Inside Nwell, PMOS device has P-diffusion region1604 and N-tap region 1602. They receive P type and N type implantsrespectively. Outside the Nwell, NMOS transistors have N-diffusion 1603and P-tap 1605 regions receiving N type and P type implantsrespectively. There are two separate active geometries one inside Nwelland one outside Nwell that form conducting paths of the inverters. Theseare separated by the latch up spacing requirement discussed earlier.Regions outside of the active geometries are trenched etched and filledwith an isolation insulator. FIG. 16.2 shows the first poly 1606 used toform the gates of the first inverter and first access NMOS device. Theinverter has a common NMOS and PMOS gate, while the access device has anindividual NMOS gate. The inverter gate has a contact 1607. This contactis used to connect the feed back of the second inverter to firstinverter. This contact is etched in the insulator deposited above thefirst poly layer 1606. FIG. 16.3 shows the first poly layer P1 1608deposited and etched above the insulator. The contact 1607 connects theP1 to gate poly of the first inverter. Thin film semiconductor P1 is asingle geometry for the cell. FIG. 16.4 shows a second poly P2 1609layer forming transistor gates to form the second inverter and thesecond pass gate above the fist poly layer. P1 and P2 contacts 1610 arealso shown. The common gate inverter has a common node at the centerwith no latch up related spacing requirement The P2 pass gate allowsaccess to this common node. FIG. 16.5 shows all of the thirteen contacts1610 in the cell and metal one 1611 that provides the localinterconnect. Buried contact 1607 prevents added metal one in the cell.FIG. 16.6 shows the metal one more clearly to be fully packed inside thecell. Thus the buried contact helps reduce the cell area In FIG. 16.6,metal one 1611 connects to metal two 1613 through via-1 1612. The V1surrounded by M1 is connected to M2. Center M1 with no V1 connects thefirst inverter common node to second inverter gate. FIG. 16.7 showsvia-2 1614 connecting M2 to M3 1615.

[0186] In FIG. 15B, vertical M2 lines are used for Power V_(D) line1530, reset column line 1506 and data line 1501. In this embodiment, thereset feature is column by column. M3 horizontal lines are used forGround 1520 and row line 1503. The data line and row lines areorthogonal to provide individual access to each cell. On 0.15 micronprocess design rules, this cell occupies 2.1 square microns area,compared to over 4.5 square microns for a typical 6T CMOS SRAM cell. Theleft four contacts and bottom 4 contacts shown in FIG. 16.5 are sharedwith adjacent cells. This is possible due to common power and groundlevels and global reset feature in this embodiment. The active areas1604 and 1605 designated as tap regions in FIG. 16.1 shows very strongNwell tap inside each Nwell, and strong Pwell tap outside Nwell in eachcell. This helps with good noise immunity for the SRAM cell.

[0187]FIG. 17 shows a 3 by 3 SRAM cell array constructed with the singlecell shown in FIG. 15B. The schematic is shown in FIG. 17A and thelayout is shown in FIG. 17B. The single cell is flipped and mirroredagainst the sides to form repetitive memory arrays. In FIG. 17A, aplurality of data lines 1701 and a plurality of row lines 1703 provideindividual access to the memory cells. A plurality of reset lines 1706is used to reset the latch via a hard ground connection to the accessdevice (1502 in FIG. 15B). The reset lines 1706, shared by adjacentcells, runs parallel to data lines 1701 providing column by column erasein this embodiment. Power V_(D) 1708 and ground V_(S) 1707 wires are notshown in FIG. 17A, but are shown in FIG. 17B. Wires 1708 and 1707 areshared by adjacent cells. This illustration is only to show a typicalconstruction of an SRAM cell utilizing a substrate semiconductor layerfor inverter 1504 and access NMOS 1510 in FIG. 15A. Poly-Silicon thinfilm layer is used for the inverter 1507 and access NMOS device 1511 inFIG. 15A. The latch is constructed according to the embodiment shown inFIG. 9.

[0188]FIG. 18 shows a 5T SRAM in accordance with this invention as shownin the embodiment in FIG. 9. On 0.15 micron design rules, this celloccupies 1.84 square microns. The single cell schematic is shown in FIG.18A, a 3×3 array schematic is shown in FIG. 18B and a single cell layoutis shown in FIG. 18C. A cell array can be constructed according to theschematic in FIG. 18B with the cell shown in FIG. 18C by the sametechniques shown in FIG. 17. The single cell is flipped and mirroredagainst the sides to form repetitive memory arrays. In FIG. 18B, aplurality of data lines 1801 and a plurality of row lines 1803 provideindividual access to the memory cells. There is no reset feature in the5T configuration. Power V_(D) 1808 and ground V_(S) 1807 wires are notshown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, but are shown in FIG. 18C. Wires 1808 and1807 are shared by adjacent cells in the mirrored cell construction ofan array. This illustration is only to show a typical construction of anSRAM cell utilizing a substrate semiconductor layer for inverter 1804and access NMOS device 1810, and a poly-Silicon thin film inverter 1807for the latch in FIG. 9.

[0189]FIG. 19 shows a 6T SRAM in accordance with this invention as shownin the embodiment in FIG. 11. The single cell schematic is shown in FIG.19A and a single cell layout is shown in FIG. 19B. A cell array can beconstructed with the cell shown in FIG. 19B by the same techniques shownin FIG. 17. The single cell is flipped and mirrored against the sides toform a repetitive memory array. In FIG. 19A a single data line 1901feeds both inverters 1904 and 1907 via access devices 1910 and 1911respectively. The gates of the access devices are coupled to two rowlines 1903 and 1906. The latch is written with a zero on the data lineand asserting either row line 1903 or row line 1906. Access device 1910sets output of inverter 1904 to zero, while access device 1911 setsoutput of inverter 1907 to zero. Conducting paths for inverters 1904,1907 and access devices 1910 and 1911 are all constructed in a thin filmsemiconductor layer, substantially different from the wafer substrateused to construct logic transistors. Power V_(D) 1908 and ground V_(S)1907 wires are not shown in FIG. 19A, but are shown in FIG. 19B. Wires1908 and 1907 are shared by adjacent cells in the mirrored cellconstruction of an array. In FIG. 19B, the data line 1901 is orthogonalto both row lines 1903 and 1906 allowing individual access to eachmemory cell in an array. The conducting paths for devices 1904, 1907,1910 and 1911 are constructed in a P1 layer 1956. As there are no Nwellsin thin film transistors, this layer is constructed in a singlegeometry. A contact 1957 allows this thin film layer to connect to gatepoly or active regions of logic transistors constructed below. Theinverter and access devices can be constructed as thin film MOSFET orthin film Gated-FET devices. An implant boundary 1953 determines thedevice type: inside devices type complementary to outside device type.P1 layer 1956 is separated from P2 layer 1954 by the thin filmtransistor gate dielectric. Buried contacts 1955 provide regions for P2to contact P1. This allows compact cross coupling of back to backinverters. Regions where P2 intersects P1 form the transistor. P2 formsthe gate and P1 forms the conducting path. A spacer and lightly dopedtip regions are not shown in FIG. 19B, but can be constructed accordingto the process description provided earlier. Both P1 and P2 regionsexposed from the top are salicided to form low resistive interconnect.This allows row lines 1903 and 1906 to be constructed as long P2 lines.The TFT transistors are covered by an insulator, and contact 1951 isused to connect P1 and P2 to upper metal-1 1952. This memory cell can beburied above a logic transistor, and the latch output can control thelogic gate voltage via contact 1957. The data state of the latch willthen determine if the logic gate is on or oft, providing programmabilityto logic gates. In another embodiment, the latch output is fed tosensing amplifiers constructed in single crystal Silicon via contact1957. These sense amplifiers detect the data inside a memory array builtsubstantially above logic and active circuitry. This allows a low costmemory block to be strapped above active circuitry to reduce Siliconarea and cost.

[0190]FIG. 20 shows another embodiment of 6T SRAM in accordance withthis invention as shown in FIG. 11. The single cell schematic is shownin FIG. 20A and a single cell layout is shown in FIG. 20B. A cell arraycan be constructed with the cell shown in FIG. 20B by the sametechniques shown in FIG. 17. The single cell is flipped and mirroredagainst the sides to form a repetitive memory array. In FIG. 20A twodata line 2001 and 2002 feeds the inverters 2004 and 2007 via accessdevices 2010 and 2011 respectively. The gates of the access devices arecoupled to two row lines 2003 and 2006. The latch is written with a zeroon the data line and asserting the corresponding row line. Access device2010 sets output of inverter 2004 to zero, while access device 2011 setsoutput of inverter 2007 to zero. Only voltage level zero is applied todata line as NMOS type pass gates conducts zero voltages without athreshold voltage loss. Conducting paths for inverters 2004, 2007 andaccess devices 2010 and 2011 are all constructed in a thin filmsemiconductor layer, substantially different from the wafer substrateused to construct logic transistors. Power V_(D) 2008 and ground V_(S)2007 wires are not shown in FIG. 20A, but are shown in FIG. 20B. In FIG.20B, the data lines 2001 and 2002 are orthogonal to both row lines 2003and 2006 allowing individual access to each memory cell in an array. Theconducting paths for devices 2004, 2007, 2010 and 2011 are constructedin a P1 layer 2056. As there are no Nwells in thin film transistors,this layer is constructed in a single geometry. The inverter and accessdevices can be constructed as thin film MOSFET or thin film Gated-FETdevices. An implant boundary 2053 determines the device type: insidedevices type complementary to outside device type. P1 layer 2056 isseparated from P2 layer 2054 by the thin film transistor gatedielectric. Gate poly 2059 below is used to make the cross-couple feedback connections via contact 2057. This allows compact cross coupling ofback to back inverters. Using gate poly eliminates the buried contact1955 shown in FIG. 19B making the process cheaper. The same Gate Poly isused by the logic transistors constructed below and easily connected tologic gates. Regions where P2 intersects P1 form the transistor. P2forms the gate and P1 forms the conducting path. A spacer and lightlydoped tip regions are not shown in FIG. 20B, but can be constructedaccording to the process description provided earlier. Both P1 and P2regions exposed from the top are salicided to form low resistiveinterconnect. This allows row lines 2003 and 2006 to be constructed asP2 lines. The TFT transistors are covered by an insulator, and contact2051 is used to connect P1 and P2 to upper metal-1 2052. Metal-1 isconnected to metal-2 2058 using a via-1 stacked on top of contact 2051.The two via-ones are not shown in FIG. 20B and they are located betweenM1 and M2 above the contacts. This memory cell can be buried above alogic transistor, and the latch output can control the logic gatevoltage via Gate Poly 2059. The data state of the latch will thendetermine if the logic gate is on or off, providing progammability tologic gates. In another embodiment, the latch output is fed to sensingamplifiers constructed in single crystal Silicon via Gate Poly 2059.These sense amplifiers detect the data inside a memory array builtsubstantially above logic and active circuitry. This allows a low costmemory block to be strapped above active circuitry to reduce Siliconarea and cost.

[0191] Although an illustrative embodiment of the present invention, andvarious modifications thereof, have been described in detail herein withreference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to these precise embodiments and the describedmodifications, and that various changes and further modifications may beeffected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from thescope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of forming a semiconductor latch forintegrated circuits, said latch adapted to receive a first supplyvoltage and a second supply voltage substantially at a lower voltagelevel than said first supply voltage, the method comprised of:fabricating a first and a second conducting path of a first inverter ina first semiconductor layer, said first conducting path coupled betweensaid first supply voltage and an output, said second conducting pathcoupled between said second supply voltage and said output; anddepositing an isolation layer above said first inverter; and fabricatinga first and a second conducting path of a second inverter in a secondsemiconductor layer, said first conducting path coupled between saidfirst supply voltage and an output, said second conducting path coupledbetween said second supply voltage and said output.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein said first semiconductor layer is one of substrateSilicon, amorphous Silicon, poly-crystalline Silicon, laser annealedpoly-crystalline Silicon, compound semiconductor material, Silicon oninsulator, and any other semiconductor material.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein said isolation layer is one of oxide, nitride, oxy-nitride,any dielectric material and any combination of dielectric materials. 4.The method of claim 1, wherein said second semiconductor layer is one ofamorphous Silicon, poly-crystalline Silicon, laser annealedpoly-crystalline Silicon, re-crystallized Silicon, compoundsemiconductor material and any other semiconductor material.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said first and second conducting paths ofsaid second inverter is fabricated on a single geometry of said secondsemiconductor layer.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:forming a common gate for said first inverter, said gate modulating saidfirst and second conducting paths of said first inverter to coupleeither said first supply voltage or said second supply voltage to saidfirst inverter output; and forming a common gate for said secondinverter, said gate modulating said first and second conducting paths ofsaid second inverter to couple either said first supply voltage or saidsecond supply voltage to said second inverter output; and coupling saidoutput of first inverter to said common gate of second inverter, andcoupling said output of second inverter to said common gate of firstinverter.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein said first inverter furthercomprises: forming a pull-up transistor source region, channel regionand a drain region in said first conducting path, said channel regionformed between said source and drain regions, said source region coupledto said first supply voltage, said drain region coupled to said output;and forming a pull-down transistor drain region, channel region andsource region in said second conducting path, said channel region formedbetween said source and drain regions, said drain region coupled to saidoutput, said source region coupled to said second supply voltage; anddepositing a dielectric layer on said first semiconductor layer andforming gate dielectric regions above channel regions for said pull-upand pull-down transistors; and depositing a gate material on saiddielectric layer, and forming gate regions above channel regions forsaid pull-up and pull-down transistors, and coupling both said gatestogether to form said common gate of first inverter.
 8. The method ofclaim 6, wherein said second inverter is further comprised of: forming apull-up transistor source region, channel region and a drain region insaid first conducting path, said channel region formed between saidsource and drain regions, said source region coupled to said firstsupply voltage, said drain region coupled to said output; and forming apull-down transistor drain region, channel region and source region insaid second conducting path, said channel region formed between saidsource and drain regions, said drain region coupled to said output, saidsource region coupled to said second supply voltage; and depositing adielectric layer on said second semiconductor layer and forming gatedielectric regions above channel regions for said pull-up and pull-downtransistors; and depositing a gate material on said dielectric layer,and forming gate regions above channel regions for said pull-up andpull-down transistors, and coupling both said gates together to formsaid common gate of second inverter.
 9. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising a pass-gate transistor comprised of: forming a conductingpath in said first semiconductor layer, said conducting path coupledbetween said common gate of first inverter and a data line; and forminga gate above said conducting path, said gate coupled to a row line, saidgate at a first voltage level substantially coupling said data line tosaid common gate of first inverter, said gate at a second voltage levelsubstantially de-coupling said data line from said common gate of firstinverter.
 10. The method of claim 6, further comprising a pass-gatetransistor comprised of: forming a conducting path in said secondsemiconductor layer, said conducting path coupled between said commongate of second inverter and a data line; and forming a gate, above saidconducting path, said gate coupled to a row line, said gate at a firstvoltage level substantially coupling said data line to said common gateof second inverter, said gate at a second voltage level substantiallyde-coupling said data line from said common gate of second inverter. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein said first and second conducting pathsof said second inverter and said conducting path of said pass-gatetransistor are fabricated on a single geometry of said secondsemiconductor layer.
 12. A method of forming a semiconductor latch forintegrated circuits, said latch adapted to receive a first supplyvoltage and a second supply voltage substantially at a lower voltagelevel than said first supply voltage, the method comprising: depositingan isolation layer above a first module layer, said module comprising asemiconductor substrate layer used to fabricate logic transistors; anddepositing a semiconductor thin film layer; and fabricating a first anda second conducting path of a first inverter in said semiconductor thinfilm layer, said first conducting path coupled between said first supplyvoltage and a first output, said second conducting path coupled betweensaid second supply voltage and said first output; and fabricating afirst and a second conducting path of a second inverter in saidsemiconductor thin film layer, said first conducting path coupledbetween said first supply voltage and a second output, said secondconducting path coupled between said second supply voltage and saidsecond output.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein said isolation layeris one of oxide, nitride, oxy-nitride, any dielectric material and anycombination of dielectric materials.
 14. The method of claim 12, whereinsaid semiconductor thin film layer is one of amorphous Silicon,poly-crystalline Silicon, laser annealed poly-crystalline Silicon,re-crystallized Silicon, compound semiconductor material and any othersemiconductor material.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein said firstand second conducting paths of said first and second inverters arefabricated on a single geometry of said semiconductor thin film layer.16. The method of claim 12, further comprising: forming a common gatefor said first inverter, said gate modulating said first and secondconducting paths of said first inverter to couple either said firstsupply voltage or said second supply voltage to said first inverteroutput; and forming a common gate for said second inverter, said gatemodulating said first and second conducting paths of said secondinverter to couple either said first supply voltage or said secondsupply voltage to said second inverter output; and coupling said firstoutput of first inverter to said common gate of second inverter, andcoupling said second output of second inverter to said common gate offirst inverter.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein each of said firstand second inverters further comprises: forming a pull-up transistorsource region, channel region and a drain region in said firstconducting path, said channel region formed between said source anddrain regions, said source region coupled to said first supply voltage,said drain region coupled to said inverter output; and forming apull-down transistor drain region, channel region and source region insaid second conducting path, said channel region formed between saidsource and drain regions, said drain region coupled to said inverteroutput, said source region coupled to said second supply voltage; anddepositing a dielectric layer on said semiconductor thin film layer andforming gate dielectric regions above channel regions for said pull-upand pull-down transistors; and depositing a gate material on saiddielectric layer, and forming gate regions above channel regions forsaid pull-up and pull-down transistors, and coupling both said gatestogether to form said common gate of said inverter.
 18. The method ofclaim 16, further comprising a pass-gate transistor comprised of:forming a conducting path in said semiconductor thin film layer, saidconducting path coupled between a data line and one of said common gatesof first or second inverter; and forming a gate above said conductingpath, said gate coupled to a row line, said gate at a first voltagelevel substantially coupling said data line to said common gate ofinverter, said gate at a second voltage level substantially de-couplingsaid data line from said common gate of inverter.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein said first and second conducting paths of said firstand second inverters and said conducting path of said pass-gatetransistor are fabricated on a single geometry of said semiconductorthin film layer.
 20. A method of fabricating a semiconductor latch foran integrated circuit, comprised of: forming two inverters, saidinverters cross-coupled to form a bi-stable latch; and supplying each ofsaid inverters with a first supply voltage and a second supply voltage,said second supply voltage substantially lower than said first supplyvoltage level, and fabricating at least one of said inverters in asemiconductor thin film module, said module layers depositedsubstantially above a semiconductor substrate module used to constructlogic circuits.